Perry gets 'spirited' with GOP lawmaker

By Peggy Fikac :
April 21, 2013
: Updated: April 22, 2013 11:44am

AUSTIN — When they made Gov. Rick Perry, they broke the mold. Or at least, they will if some lawmakers have their way. Apparently, this has the incumbent a little concerned.

Measures to impose term limits and rein in security costs for officials' out-of-state trips prompted a “spirited” discussion initiated by Perry, said their sponsor, Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio.

You'd think Perry might not mind the term-limit proposal, since it would allow incumbents two more terms. By keeping others from matching his tenure, it also would seal his record as Texas' longest-serving governor, an office he assumed in December 2000.

The bill to require officials to reimburse taxpayers for out-of-state travel that's not for official business might get a little pricey, however, if Perry decides to run for re-election and then for president in 2016.

While Perry's campaign or other entities generally pay for his direct travel costs, taxpayers pick up the tab for his security.

Out-of-state travel for Perry's security detail has cost taxpayers more than $2.4 million since his 2010 re-election, much of it for his failed presidential run. Larson's bill would only apply to future expenses

House Bill 160, the one on security costs, cleared State Affairs a month ago. If the Calendars Committee schedules it for a House vote and it passes, it would still need Senate approval.

Both measures are pushed by Larson, who last week was — let's say — invited to Perry's office to talk about the legislation.

“It was a spirited conversation,” Larson said. “It was a healthy discussion.”

Larson has earned a bit of a reputation for swinging at the establishment that has caught the attention of the Dallas Morning News, which first reported on his meeting with Perry.

When I talked with him, Larson said Perry, among other points, wanted to know “what my motivations were.”

Perry spokesman Rich Parsons said, “The governor regularly meets with lawmakers, particularly during session, and I'm not privy to his conversations with them. He'll consider any legislation that makes it to his desk.”

Larson said that in the hourlong meeting, Perry expressed concern about his family's safety under some reporting provisions of the security bill.

Larson said he plans to make changes to address those concerns, limiting the restrictions to trips by officeholders to run for president and, perhaps, U.S. Senate. Larson said the argument he made to Perry was, “Just looking at what happened the last budget, and the cuts we made in health care and education and infrastructure. And then when someone runs for president, we're picking up the cost. The optics on that weren't very favorable.”

Even if the security reimbursement bill passes, Perry could veto it. That's a power he doesn't have over the term-limits measure because it's a proposed constitutional amendment, which would go directly on a state ballot if approved by the required two-thirds of lawmakers.

On that measure, Larson said Perry expressed his belief that voters already can impose term limits on individual officeholders at the ballot box.

Larson said he again presented his side.

“Very seldom do you see people beat that are incumbents. After eight years, I think it's time to have different perspectives brought into the equation,” Larson said. “He disagreed.”